Chapter 7: Emotional Blackmail...
Rick leaned back in his chair, brows furrowed as he stared at the mountain of paperwork on his desk. The ink on the page blurred before his eyes, his signature resting on a document he hadn’t finished reading.
He couldn’t shake the image of Emerald from his thoughts. Her fierce gaze remained with him, and the piercing howl she let out before she fell still echoed in his mind.
"Focus," he muttered to himself.
He reached for his coffee mug, only to grasp at empty air. His hand hovered for a moment before curling into a fist.
Right.
She wasn’t here anymore.
It struck him then: Emerald always brought him his coffee, even without having to ask or call for it.
He grunted and sat back, rubbing his temples as he tried to push the image out of his head. "She’s nothing," he said aloud, trying to convince himself. "She made her choice."
He yanked his attention back to the papers when a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"What?" Rick snapped.
The door creaked open, and a young messenger entered, his gaze lowered, holding a sealed envelope with a crimson ribbon around it.